Avengers #5: Review

May 1964

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

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Story Name:

The Invasion of the Lava Men

Review & Comments

Rating:

Avengers #5 Review by Peter Silvestro (February 15, 2010)

First meeting of Hulk and Captain America.

Avengers #5 Review by Rob Johnson (August 10, 2011)

The Avengers come home from another battle with the Hulk in Fantastic Four #25-26. Captain America starts to train Rick Jones, cementing their partnership and increasing his separation from Hulk. Meanwhile Bruce Banner returns to the military desert base where Gen'l Ross says he's been missing for months. It isn't obvious exactly when Hulk was last regularly occupying his civilian identity. We haven't seen Ross and his daughter Betty since Hulk #6. But there was a cameo of Banner at work in Tales of Suspense #49, between issues 2 and 3 of this series. Banner's transformations still seem to be happening at random. Hulk now drops out of the Avengers attention for a while (though he's still on the masthead in #6). He will next appear in Amazing Spider-Man #14, and then with Giant-Man and Wasp in Tales to Astonish #59, then a cameo in Thor #112 before starting his regular stint in TtA#60. The next time Avengers try to track him down will be in #17. One of the Lava Men named Molto has been to the surface before, when Loki caused a volcano to spew him out in Journey into Mystery #97, until Thor sealed him back in the volcano again. There he spouted the usual threats about his people coming to take the surface world away from weak humans. He didn't seem to have or learn the liking for humans he espouses here. The issue ends with the Teen Brigade alerting the Avengers of the Masters of Evil's rampage in New York. Cue the next issue. And with apologies to Peter, Cap and Hulk first meet and fight in FF#26.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #5 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Sonic vibrations are causing destruction all over the world and the Avengers trace their source to the Southwest. Meanwhile, a new mountain is rising from the ground near the missile base and General Ross orders Bruce Banner to investigate it. The Avengers arrive and break through the mountain and discover the Lava Men waiting for them below. The Lava Men tell Thor about their discovery of the Living Stone, a volatile substance that threatens their underground lair. Their solution was to push the Living Stone above ground so that when it explodes, it would destroy the surface world and spare them. The Avengers battle the Lava Men. Nearby, Banner turns into the Hulk and finds his way underground. The Avengers, fearing that Jade Jaws could set off the Living Stone, turn to subdue him and the Wasp tricks the Hulk into slamming his fist into the Stone, causing it to implode rather than explode, ending the threat. Thor persuades the Lava Men to live in peace with the surface-dwellers. Betty Ross finds the injured Bruce Banner in the desert and helps him back to the base.

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